carolineg

I think the way Roman was in 1981-84 worked for him at the time, but the circumstances and character changed and he didn't. I would think being held prisoner for 7 years and losing all the time with your wife and children while someone else was actually taking your place would make you value your freedom and family, but Roman seems annoyed all the time. Like everyone should just accept him no problem. Also RoJohn played a very different, more mature Roman. It stills rubs me the wrong way how awful he was by going undercover 5 min after he came back and he had 0 sympathy towards Marlena and the years she lost. It was all about him. I also hated his creepy relationship with Sami and the way he totally discounted Marlena and John in regards to Carrie because he was biologically related to her. Also, John and Marlena were smoking hot in the 90's. DH and WN didn't have the same chemistry. I like Roman/Wayne. The TPTB made him unlikeable in the R/M/J triangle and it was unnecessary. The outside factors of the trio were enough to build a triangle on, they didn't have to make one person the heavy in this one. I also don't think Roman would shun Marlena forever for her affair and Belle when Marlena accepted a lot of crap from him ( ex-wife and child he forgot to mention). The way WN was fired and written out let a lot to be desired. The affair was talked about for years but TPTB fired one of the main players in it?

Probably. JER was single minded on his supercouples and J&M were his favorite. JER didn't do triangles with all 3 players being 'good' Everyone was either good or evil. Even Billie, who was basically a nice person, became a schemer under JER. Isabella definitely would have been a villain lol. I think her character arc was pretty decent. She served her purpose and has a good legacy on the show. Though I really would have liked to see the John/Isabella/Marlena/Roman quad play out with her and J&M having the affair and Belle. Although I literally cringe at the nickname Izzy B. It's super obnoxious...but I am not a fan of nicknames. The nickname Doc bothers me too. It's like the least sexy thing you can call your soulmate/wife.

I am pretty sure if Staci Greason stayed the plan was still for a John/Marlena affair just with both parties cheating on spouses instead of just Marlena. I just remember reading on a board or in a magazine they hired Eileen because she was a younger love interest. Obviously John and Marlena needed some kind of angst after Wayne left and Kristen was pretty boring pre-villainess. I do have a hard time imagining Isabella as a villainess but a lot of it is because Isabella is revered as a practical saint on Days so I can't really imagine her as anything but tragic. I don't think SG really has the depth to play the villainess the way Eileen did, but Isabella's background and upbringing would make sense for her to turn bad. I really hated Isabella when I was younger (I really, really loved John and Marlena back in the day), but she isn't awful when I watch clips now. Also, I feel like WN's Roman got the shaft for John. He was written like such a jerk after he returned in 1991. It would be strange to see Brady and Belle at odds because as kids they were literally a package deal. I would honestly feel bad for Belle. She already had to deal with Sami.

I could be crazy but I think they broke up Don and Marlena because they wanted to give DH a younger love interest after she became super popular. The early 80's had so many casting changes and I feel like they were beginning to start phasing Don out. Giving him B stories like the Maggie romance. Once WN's Roman caught on there was no need to go back to Don and Marlena. Conversely, they hired Eileen to give Drake a younger love interest because TPTB thought Deidre was too old. JER is the one that went full force with J&M. I honestly never thought Marlena looked older than John. I think Deidre looked pretty ageless until the last few years.

I am not a Carly fan really, but I think Tamara Braun was the best. She had the best chemistry with Maurice. But Sarah Brown was the best actress. I thought we always knew Carly was Bobbie's daughter or at least it was heavily implied. Or am I crazy? They did bounce SJB around a lot with Tony, Jason, and AJ which I thought was a little excessive. She didn't need 3 love interests.

Meh. I am a woman and don't advocate violence, but Reese was generally universally hated. Just another lame Brendabot. Hitting her was extreme but his words weren't wrong. Didn't Alan have a pill addiction? Did he fall off the wagon? Or is he one of those soap characters that still drink because booze wasn't their problem?

Reilly made characters too dumb. I think John (and maybe Austin) suffered the worst under Reilly. Sure it took them forever to give any sort of payoff in those triangles, but every OTP couple was made to look dumb. ED/Kristen was amazing and Reilly smartly ran with it, but let's be honest there was no reason for John/Marlena not to be together after Aremid. All the handwringing and does he/she love me was annoying after a bit of time. What was John's endgame plan to just stay with Kristen forever and ever instead of just ASKING Marlena (a woman who practically swoons everytime you walk into the room) if she loved him too? Hope/Bo/Billie were also majorly idiotic in their stories. I am not sure if John every recovered from the stupidity of him not knowing his live in fiancée was not pregnant and at times a completely different person. And Marlena, girl, the man wrote you a letter when he was going to die that he always loved you and always will. Outside of him physically saying those words to you-that's probably about the best proof you will get that he likes you. So, knowing this, you are going to let him be with Kristen and 'his son' while you are raising his two other kids? And Caustin never recovered. By the time they resolved that story. Austin was brainless and Carrie wanted Mike anyway. Like you said all the loyalty and self-sacrificing these hero/heroine's did wasn't heroic it border lined on actually being selfish to the person they loved by not telling them relevant facts like, hey, she is not actually pregnant. Or hey, Sami, we aren't one big happy family. I always loved your sister.

They didn't generate a lot of chemistry, but Katherine Bell was one of the most ill-defined characters ever. She had so many romances that never clicked, different careers, different motivations, etc. They tried pairing her with everyone: Ned, Mac, Scotty, Damian, Nicholas!!, Stefan. The only thing I can remember being enjoyable about her was her rivalry with Lucy. The characters of Stefan and Katherine never really made 'sense' together and with more appealing options (Bobbie, Laura) it just seemed very "look at us re-pairing Patch and Kayla" more than what actually worked for the storyline. Then they kept having her fall off that damn parapet at Wyndemere.

I always thought JA could act. He was just wasted on Days. And he was so dreamy to me at 15. Like, so hot, but as an adult I realize Eric was dull AF and annoying. His Fauxman/Marlena pimping was obnoxious. I love when Eric tried to fight John and John was basically saying I am not going to fight you (because clearly I would win) and Eric kept swinging... It was a waste of time and talent. He so much looked the part of Sami's twin and Marlena's child.

As a straight female, I was really excited for this potential story. And then nothing....I think Eric being gay/bisexual would have made great story. Marlena accepting it, but Sami and Roman struggling and Eric struggling with himself. Better than the JA pairing with Nicole.

I know this is from 2 years ago and no one cares, but I always thought they were going to make Eric gay/bisexual and just backed out. I think there was some fan speculation at the time agreeing with that theory too.

While not to hijack a GH thread, but when DH returned to Days in 1991 she literally had her own wardrobe credit. I can't remember the store's name (somewhere in the OC I think) it actually said wardrobe for Deidre Hall provided by.....lol. She wore the same pink suit for like 2 months back then, so I wouldn't brag about providing wardrobe for her...

Yes. They did. Very obnoxious to the viewer who just wants to watch the skating, but they don't really bother me. Tara and Johnny were very good in 2014, but they have gradually progressed into campiness and gossip and I am not sure what they sound like to regular fans or watchers, but they talked almost through entire programs. Tara is actually the one that never stops talking. I work in the figure skating field, so by the Olympics I had seen most of these programs a million times, so I could tune them out because I knew what elements were coming next. Anyway, rumor has it Johnny is very jealous of Adam and his attention he is getting. BTW, random fact, but most figure skaters I grew up with watched soaps. We had very odd school/skating schedules so I was often getting off school/getting ready to skate or vice versa when soaps were on at my house. Most of my skating friends watched Days and/or GH, while most my 'regular' friends were like what are you talking about? Marlena who?

This is neither here nor there on a soap board, but I used to be a competitive figure skater for years. Outside of Johnny's annoying personality, he actually has relevant things to say in regards to skating, while Scott Hamilton used to grunt and scream a lot and used the same phrases for every. single. skater, so Weir's actual commentary doesn't bother me that much. Scott Hamilton is just a more likeable personality, though. NBC got so much positive feedback from Johnny and Tara Lipinski's 2014 Sochi B feed commentary (the one that showed every single skater in every discipline on the old Universal Sports channel) that they fired Scott and have continued to use Johnny and Tara, although Scott was doing some commenting in Pyeongchang this year. I wouldn't be surprised if Adam starts commentating in the future, though.

Not that this is really related to soaps, but he did win the Olympic Bronze medal in the team event (and is the only 2 time world junior champion and a former national champion) and has done ratified (clean) quads in competition before- just not recently. The actual true hope Nathan Chen bombed, Adam skated relatively clean and gave some witty one liners. He's like a less obnoxious Johnny Weir.

1. Exactly. Sam was the worst character ever created. Even Kyle's brother in Season 7 is more interesting. If she was supposed to be the replacement for Jo, they misfired horribly. 2. I think others mentioned there were some back 'n forth contract negotiations with Marcia Cross? I always thought it was ironic how by the time she became an "official" castmember in season 4, she had already outrun her usefulness. 3. Yeah, I couldn't believe how Allison was able to hit the bottle and Jake barely flinched. I liked how Allison eventually went back to D&D, for all of two seconds. 4. Yup. haha 5. It was. Once again, Matt in his own storyline island, with no cute boyfriend (although his boyfriends were always mental hotheads) or the adorable Mara Wilson to make him interesting. Small sendoff for poor Jane. Gone are the days of someone getting a promotion or whatnot, and everyone from the apartment complex coming over for an impromptu party, complete with balloons and cake. Season One was adorable... I like how Soap Opera Digest once described David Charvet's MP run.... "from the moment David Charvet joined Melrose Place, he looked like he didn't want to be there." So true. Sam was dead weight. She was riding off her success from Swingers. She was less bad ass than Jo at her best when Jo was getting beat up by Jake's brother. Marcia Cross way outlived her usefulness. Why negotiate? Syd was a way bigger loss. They should have given more money to CTS or Grant Show, although I am okay with Jake's exit. Alison in season 5 is an utter disappointment. I don't understand why they just didn't have her and Billy ride off into the sunset. It's not like Billy did anything worthy after season 5. Amanda never really had a true rival (even though she always beat Alison) after season 5. I think their rivalry was special because of the love triangle and the points where they are friends. Poor Matt. I like him in second viewing. He deserved a better storyline alway David Charvet always seemed too young and out of place with the rest of the cast although I like Sydney and him together. So did Jenn, Billy's soulmate.

Okay just finished season 5. I had no idea it really was. I remember it being bad, but it's awful. The only mild entertainment is Taylor. I mean David Chavert is funny for different reasons. 1. wtf is this Billy/Sam/Dad thing. No one cares 2. Why did Kimberly go into re-mission only to die? 3. I totally forgot Alison was back on the sauce and Jake was just cool with it? They are one of the worst married couples ever. Truly Her and Amanda and her being back at D&D were a bright spot. I liked them as grudging friends. 4. This show is just a hot mess and it gets so much worse in the second half. 5. Did not recall NLG on the show at all. And that Matt/storyline was so weird. At least Billy and Alison got a small send off. I know they showed up at the airport with Jane, but it was like here's a banner and see you later. Lol

Post Season 4 Brandon and Kelly became self-righteous and annoying. I will always think the show jumped the shark once Shannon left even though Val was a good addition. And I agree Dylan was so out of place after high school like he had no direction. Just him and Kelly were boring. They needed a spoiler and Val was no Brenda in that area. Val's best pairing was David by far maybe because they were dating in real life. BAG sure knows how to score the hot ladies (TaT, VM, Megan Fox) and he grew up good looking. Anyway I stopped watching sometime after 6 and tuned in when Vanessa Marcil joined the show. I liked the character of Gina (but I like VM reading the phone book soo...bias), but the never fleshed her out enough to be a good Val replacement. Her and the charming Daniel Cogsgrove were bogged down with such transparent 'we are the designated losers' in this love quad it was just lame. Did anyone believe Kelly was going to marry Matt ever? I didn't even believed she liked him much. I thought VM and LP had okay chemistry, but Idk VM has chemistry with most people. I liked her and David better. What I find interesting is that she asked to be let out of her contract because she was so miserable and said it was a mean girls club and she was treated poorly. Although I'd be angry too if they made me Donna's sister. Like seriously VM is Hispanic and couldn't look less like Donna if she tried. They showed her mother and she was clearly not Hispanic so that made literally no sense at all. And then they kill Dr. Martin off? I didn't get the point? Overall though I think they wrapped the serious up well. Much better than Melrose's swan song.

The bay is the web series with Lilly Melgar, and Mary Beth Evans, and a bunch of soap stars right? They don't film very many episodes, do they? It keeps my Melrose movie dream alive, but glad to hear TC is working. I heard the Bay was good, but I have never seen in. I am not into web series even though I know a lot are better than actual soaps.

I'm not really good at math but it seems it was not even a couple of months since the last post... Well it was on the second page and most of the last few pages were about the reboot. Ha ha....I guess I am not good at math. He looks fine to me. I mean he hasn't aged horribly or anything.

I have never seen devious maids so I have no idea. Time flies. I realized I watched this in jr high and high school and now I am in my 30's lol I just think it would be kinda cool to do one of those old school this is where they are at now movies. Lord knows the crappy movies they put out on lifetime now. Although, not gonna lie loved them doing flowers in the attic and all the sequels. I can't imagine Michael Mancini 57, but I am sure he looks good. The rest of the cast does relatively. They all came together for the reunion show on GMA sans TC, so they seem like they'd be willing. I mean I know Lisa Rinna would be in lol She turns nothing down.

I mean I know what they have done, and DZ was awesome as Brookes mom on OTH btw. I am sure Marcia Cross and CTS don't need the money. I am just saying do any of them have long term commitments anywhere except Grant Show (I didn't know he was a regular)? They could totally do a movie ala Knots Landing like the 80's. There may be no market, but I don't see why Fox or the CW couldn't try or Lifetime with their unauthorized biographies lol. Then Grant could even do it. And yeah, not so sure about Heather and she's kinda of the deal breaker. Just a thought.

I get they tried to make it more grounded but Sam was lame and Alison was a complete jerk to Billy. Yeah, he did some bad things but I mean, c'mon, he put up with A Lot of crap from her. Her just kinda leading him on but not seriously considered him at all was just mean after all they been through. If CTS and Grant Show thought Jake and Alison was a good idea then I know their next career is not in writing. Watching the Unauthorized Melrose movie made it seem like there was no love lost between CTS and Andrew Shue after they broke up, so maybe that had something to do with it? Who knows it's one of the most annoying parts of MP IMO that they built Jake and Alison up only to just break them up and neither left with the correct partners. I am sure they could have worked something out with CTS for the finale with her on the same network. So I guess Alison is just drunk in the ATL? MP needs one of the eighties movies of the week that Knots Landing and I think Dallas did where we catch up with the og characters. I bet most would be game. Besides Laura Leighton are any of them working? Beside JW doing stints on GH as Frisco? I feel like I could talk about the ridiculous of the exits of Sydney and Kimberly for days. Kimberly should have been written off and brought back later. And I saw the replies about Doug Savant so I guess that is understandable. Killing him off is still irritating......... Michael was the real savior of the show. I like him so much more than I did when it aired. Of course Amanda is amazing too, but she got all victim and there were points you could tell she was over it. Michael sold everything. The more ridiculous the better.

I totally understand that, but they managed to keep a lot of 90210's around for years. I think they should have worked harder to keep Jake and Alison or at least let Alison and Billy go together. Jo, Jake, Alison, Jane, Kimberly, I missing anyone? Matt? That's a lot of people to loose and it seemed like they had no real game plan going into six and I realize Heather Locklear's pregnancy messed things up, but they should have tried harder to get some of the originals besides Jane back in the end. I mean it's like two different shows after season 4 and especially after season 5.

Bumping up this thread after a number of years. I have been watching seasons 1-half of 5 so far through Amazon Prime. I can't believe the decline of the show from 5-7. It's been mentioned a million times, but I don't understand why so many core characters departed in season five and the casting choices after. I am a huge CTS/Alison fan. One of the few as I can see reading this thread. She was the heart of the show. Alison and Billy should have ended up together. It's criminal they didn't send them off together or at least show him at her door at the serious finale. Jake and Alison have a spark, but then they became dull as dirt. I remember they had some chemistry in Season 1 when she was helping get his GED and the building was all aflutter with rumors about the two of them. None of Alison's other pairings really did anything for me except Hayley. I loved drunk Alison, bitchy D&D Alison and Alison/Amanda's rivalry. They should have done whatever to keep her or get her back for the finale. Although I understand now as an adult why people weren't crazy about her. I don't see where Brooke had to go after she became completely dependent on Billy. Her exit was perfect timing to me. Kimberly was a great character that outlived her usefulness. They kept her story going far too long after the explosion. I did always enjoy Marcia Cross. Sydney is fabulous and the only good thing about Jane. There was nothing interesting about Jane at all. Even evil Jane was stupid. Jo was good for a hot minute and her and Jake were good. The rest of the time her character was utterly useless. I like Matt in recent viewing. Never cared for him much before, but I liked some of his stories even with his silly love interests and drug addiction. Idk, I think he's a pretty good actor. Billy is Billy. Alison, Amanda, and Brooke made him interesting. Him being power hunger and evil is a joke. He worked best as the guy next door. I am not even going to get into his love interests post-season 4. Jake was a real loss as was shooters. To isolate him and Alison was bizarre and to build them up only to break them up in the end was a strange choice although I do enjoy the Billy/Alison scene at the airport. Michael is awesome as always. He had a lot of clunker storylines especially in the end but he always sold him. Peter was blah in repeats, but I remember liking him at the time and him and Amanda. Everyone else is not worth mentioning except Rena Sofer as Eve, but only because of my Lois love from GH. Taylor slamming herself into the door is the only memorable thing about the dying days of Melrose. I like Jamie Luner, but prefer her as Peyton in the too short lived Savanah.